© 2024 Maine Public

Bangor Studio/Membership Department
63 Texas Ave.
Bangor, ME 04401

Lewiston Studio
1450 Lisbon St.
Lewiston, ME 04240

Portland Studio
323 Marginal Way
Portland, ME 04101

Registered 501(c)(3) EIN: 22-3171529
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Scroll down to see all available streams.

Maine Med nurses reach agreement on first union contract

Nurses negotiating for their first contract at Maine Medical Center in Portland held a demonstration on Wednesday, April 27.
Patty Wight
/
Maine Public
Nurses negotiating for their first contract at Maine Medical Center in Portland held a demonstration on Wednesday, April 27.

Nurses at Maine Medical Center have reached a final agreement on their first union contract.

The agreement follows more than a year of negotiations and comes nearly one month after nurses voted to recertify their union.

In a press release, nurse Nadine Kern says their recertification victory gave nurses the momentum they needed to reach a deal.

The contract includes guaranteed breaks and ends mandatory rotating shifts where nurses work day shifts some weeks and night shifts on others. The agreement also establishes an independent committee to deal with patient safety and other issues.

Maine Med's 2,000 nurses will vote to ratify the three-year contract next week.